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Saturday, March 21, 2015

This post has two easy methods to make hard-cooked eggs that will give perfect hard-boiled eggs every time!

It's getting close to Easter, and that means families everywhere will be making hard-cooked eggs and then dying them bright colors to go in Easter baskets. For years I just put eggs in a pan, added water, and boiled them, often with mixed results. Imagine my surprise when I learned a few years ago that there's a right and wrong way to make hard-boiled eggs. If you use the boiling-water soak method, your eggs will turn out perfectly every time, with firm yellow yolks, and no tinge of green or gray to the yolks.

If you're going to be making eggs for Easter, try one of these Two Easy Methods for Perfect Hard-Cooked Eggs. I promise, you will not be sorry!

Perfect Hard-Cooked Eggs: Steam-Cooked Eggs

You can use any type of Vegetable Steamer or Steamer Insert for steamed eggs, and I used the wonderful steamer I got from my late stepmother Norma. Here's how to steam the eggs.

Only put enough eggs to fit in a single layer.

Put a couple of inches of water in the bottom of the steamer, as much as you can fit without the water touching the eggs.

When the water comes to a boil, steam eggs 20-22 minutes. (I live at a high altititude so my eggs needed a couple more minutes, but 20 minutes will be perfect for most places. You might need to do a test batch to decide what the perfect cooking time is at your altitude.)

While the eggs are steaming prepare a bowl with ice and water.

When eggs are done use a large spoon to immediately transfer them to the ice water bath.

Let eggs sit in the ice water about 10-15 minutes, then peel. (If you're eating them hot, just leave in the water for a minute or two.)

And here are a couple of photos of the peeled and sliced eggs to show how the shells slip right off and the eggs turn out perfect every time!

Perfect Hard-Cooked Eggs: Boiling-Water Soak Method

This is the method I've used since 2007, and it also gives perfect results every time, although the steamed eggs are slightly easier to peel. But if you don't want to buy a steamer, just use this method.

Eggs that are too fresh are difficult to peel, so always keep eggs in the refrigerator for a week or two before making boiled eggs.

For best results, take eggs out of the refrigerator and let them come to room temperature before cooking.

Put eggs in a pan large enough to hold all the eggs in a single layer, with water to cover eggs by at least an inch.

Bring water to a boil. As soon as it boils, turn off heat and cover eggs. Set timer for 12 minutes.

After 12 minutes, drain eggs, and add cold water with a couple of ice cubes. Let eggs cool at least 10 minutes in cold water, then drain and store in refrigerator.

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I love egg salad sandwiches. You need really crusty Italian bread, then add a good dollop of mayo, thinly sliced onions and celery for crunch and lots of salt and pepper. Sometimes I take them to work and eat them just on their own with salt and pepper, great instant protein!

I wish I could remember where I learned how to do hard boiled eggs. Might have been in the Joy of Cooking but I'm not at home to look. You're doing it pretty much the way I've done it for a long time except I bring them to a boil, cover and let sit 10 minutes. I did some to bring with us on this plane trip. It's such a joy when they peel cleanly!

Hi kalyn,I was not sure that this was worth it - getting eggs to room temp, waiting so long, etc, but I can say that it works. I am not sure that it is worth it for a couple of hard boiled eggs for breakfast/sandwich (takes far too long compared to boiling - but anyway, I prefer soft boiled for breakfast) but for a mass batch, I would consider this method!

Don't be embarassed about showing your hardboiled egg breakfast in a bag! People out there are skipping breakfast, stopping at McDonalds, or eating those horrible breakfast bars from the grocery store. They need healthful alternatives for breakfast on the go.

Who ever imagined when I wrote about how to make perfect boiled eggs and shared ideas for using boiled eggs in April of 2007 that it would be one of my most popular posts ever? Comments before this one are before I updated the post in 2008 with even more boiled egg ideas.

Hah... isn't it funny how we all have our own "fail-proof" method to hard-boil eggs? Mine is (a) bring to boil in salted water, about 1" depth over top of eggs; (b) once water comes to a full rolling boil, turn off heat and allow to sit 15 minutes; (c) remove and immediately peel under cold running water, or, cool and refrigerate for future use.

For years I couldn't eat eggs, from about age 12 or 14 through about age 27. They did horrible, gassy things to me. And even though I always LOVED eggs, I could only eat maybe 1/2 egg every once in a while... if I ate more than that, I suffered miserably. And just as suddenly it was gone, and I could eat eggs again. Go figure.

And what's wrong with eating an egg in the car on the way to work? I used to bring HB eggs to work for breakfast or lunch, and peel them there. So yummy sprinkled with salt!

Thanks for this post! I saw an episode of "The Secret life of...Easter" on the Food Network and I remember them showing this process...I forgot how long to let the eggs set in the water, so I was going to google it...But before I did, I decided to run through my fave blogs...and then I read this post all about eggs! You saved me so much time! Thanks!

One think I like to do with hard cooked egg is pickle them. But not with red beets like you might think. I take a large jar of pepperoncini and a dozen whole, hard cooked eggs. Mix together and keep in fridge for a couple of days. Yowza! The heat of the spicy peppers and the cool of the egg are just a fantastic combination. Everyone who has tried them has raved about them. If you like spicy, you really should give them a try. One further tip, if your pepperoncini are not juicy enough, you may need to get another jar, just for the liquid.

I'm so happy I found this again. My computer died and I lost all my favorites, one of which was this method of cooking hardboiled eggs. I'd never been able to cook them until I found this site.Thank you for taking all the guessing out of it for me.

I prefer hard boiled egg than the fried ones, but I've never seen or eaten hard boiled eggs like you have here, they look fantastic and sure taste great. Thanks to you now I can have my eggs flavored differently from my the usual plain one. :) This is my first visit to your lovely blog by the way and I'm sure be back to dig more of your posts. Thanks ~Claire

I eat a lot of hard boiled eggs, especially in order to jazz up salads. I season mine with sea salt, ground pepper, and... lemon juice! I accidentally drizzled lemon juice on my eggs when I was dressing up a salad, but was pleasantly surprised when I ate them!

Again...I wasn't sure where to post this...I am trying to convert my eggs to organic. There are so many brands out there that is confusing!! I went to my local Sam's club (no Costco) and they have EB eggs for a really good price. I read the package and they seem good but I was wondering what type of eggs you recommend?

Hi Kalyn,I'm glad you thought to post this on your site. I have had no luck boiling eggs since moving back to Utah from Las Vegas. I am learning that baking has to have adjustments for altitude so I thought maybe it affected the eggs. Apparently it does, but yours is the only site I found that had a procedure used in Utah. I have my eggs setting out and can't wait to get them done!

I am such a dunce when it comes to boiling eggs... Wouldn't it make a difference if it's a gas stove vs. electric? With gas, the burner would cool down very fast. My electric stove will keep that water boiling for a long time if I cover a pan and turn it off. Am I supposed to remove the pan from the burner? I am laughing at myself for what is probably a stupid question here, so feel free to laugh along. :-)

Steaming eggs? that is one method I've never tried! Definitely intriguing. I usually put my eggs straight from the fridge into a pan of water and start timing when it comes to a boil -- 8-9 minutes for yolks that are just cooked through, with a little dimple of damp in the middle. The creamier yolk makes for a better egg salad!

Thanks for joining the conversation! I love hearing from readers and even though I can't always reply to every comment, I will always answer specific questions on a recipe as soon as possible. Sometimes I'm answering by iPhone, so my replies may be short!

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